The Manifesto was a dramatic turning point in the history of the LDS Church. It advised against church members from entering into any marriage prohibited by the law of the land, and made it possible for Utah to become a U.S. state. Nevertheless, even after the Manifesto, the church quietly continued to perform a small number of plural marriages in the United States, Mexico, and Canada,[1][2] thus necessitating a Second Manifesto during U.S. congressional hearings in 1904. Though neither Manifesto dissolved existing plural marriages, plural marriage in the LDS Church gradually died by attrition during the early 1900s. The Manifesto was canonized in the LDS Church standard works as Official Declaration 1[3][4] and is considered by mainstream Mormons to have been prompted by divine revelation (although not a revelation itself), in which Woodruff was shown that the church would be thrown into turmoil if they did not comply with it.[5] Some Mormon fundamentalists dispute that Woodruff received any such revelation.[citation needed]

In April 1889, Woodruff, then president of the church, began privately refusing the permission that was required to contract new plural marriages.[7] In October 1889, Woodruff publicly admitted that he was no longer approving new polygamous marriages, and in answer to a reporter's question of what the LDS Church's attitude was toward the law against polygamy, Woodruff stated, "we mean to obey it. We have no thought of evading it or ignoring it."[8] Because it had been Mormon practice for over 25 years to either evade or ignore anti-polygamy laws, Woodruff's statement was a signal that a change in church policy was developing.[9]

In February 1890, the Supreme Court had already ruled in Davis v. Beason[10] that a law in Idaho Territory which disenfranchised individuals who practiced or believed in plural marriage was constitutional.[11] That decision left the Mormons no further legal recourse to their current marriage practices and made it unlikely that without change Utah Territory would be granted statehood.

Woodruff later said that on the night of September 23, 1890, he received a revelation from Jesus Christ that the church should cease the practice of plural marriage.[12] The following morning, he reported this to some of the general authorities and placed the hand-written draft on a table. George Reynolds would later recount that he, Charles W. Penrose, and John R. Winder modified Woodruff's draft into the current language accepted by the general authorities and presented to the church as a whole.[13] Woodruff announced the Manifesto on September 25 by publishing it in the church-owned Deseret Weekly in Salt Lake City.[14] On October 6, 1890, it was formally accepted by the church membership, though many held reservations or abstained from voting.[1][15][16]

Utah applied for statehood again in 1895, and it was granted on January 4, 1896. One of the conditions for granting Utah and other western territories statehood was that a ban on polygamy be written into the state constitution.

Press dispatches having been sent for political purposes, from Salt Lake City, which have been widely published, to the effect that the Utah Commission, in their recent report to the Secretary of the Interior, allege that plural marriages have been contracted in Utah since last June or during the past year, also that in public discourses the leaders of the Church have taught, encouraged and urged the continuance of the practice of polygamy—

I, therefore, as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, do hereby, in the most solemn manner, declare that these charges are false. We are not teaching polygamy or plural marriage, nor permitting any person to enter into its practice, and I deny that either forty or any other number of plural marriages have during that period been solemnized in our Temples or in any other place in the Territory.

One case has been reported, in which the parties allege that the marriage was performed in the Endowment House, in Salt Lake City, in the Spring of 1889, but I have not been able to learn who performed the ceremony; whatever was done in this matter was without my knowledge. In consequence of this alleged occurrence the Endowment House was, by my instructions, taken down without delay.

Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional by the court of last resort, I heareby declare my intention to submit to those laws, to use my influence with the members of the Church over which I preside to have them do likewise.

There is nothing in my teachings to the Church or in those of my associates, during the time specified, which can be reasonably construed to inculcate or encourage polygamy; and when any Elder of the Church has used language which appeared to convey such teaching, he has been promptly reproved. And I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land.

I move that, recognizing Wilford Woodruff as the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the only man on the earth at the present time who holds the keys of the sealing ordinances, we consider him fully authorized by virtue of his position to issue the Manifesto which has been read in our hearing, and which is dated September 1890, and that as a Church in General Conference assembled, we accept his declaration concerning plural marriages as authoritative and binding.[17]

The conference proceedings recorded that "the vote to sustain the foregoing motion was unanimous."[17] However, a modern author reports that "at least some voted against the Manifesto and perhaps a majority abstained".[16] Some members, including apostleMoses Thatcher, only reluctantly supported the Manifesto and interpreted it as a sign that the Second Coming of Jesus was imminent, after which plural marriage would be reinstated.[16]

The Manifesto was the end of official church authorization for the creation of new plural marriages that violated local laws. It had no effect on the status of already existing plural marriages, and plural marriages continued to be performed in locations where it was believed to be legal. As Woodruff explained at the general conference where the Manifesto was accepted by the church, "[t]his Manifesto only refers to future marriages, and does not affect past conditions. I did not, I could not, and would not promise that you would desert your wives and children. This you cannot do in honor."[18] Despite Woodruff's explanation, some church leaders and members who were polygamous did begin to live with only one wife.[19] However, the majority of Mormon polygamists continued to cohabit with their plural wives in violation of the Edmunds Act.[20]

Within six years of the announcement of the Manifesto, Utah had become a state and federal prosecution of Mormon polygamists subsided. However, Congress still refused to seat representatives-elect who were polygamists, including B. H. Roberts.[21]

D. Michael Quinn and other Mormon historians have documented that some church apostles covertly sanctioned plural marriages after the Manifesto. This practice was especially prevalent in Mexico and Canada because of an erroneous belief that such marriages were legal in those jurisdictions.[22] However, a significant minority were performed in Utah and other western American states and territories. The estimates of the number of post-Manifesto plural marriages performed range from scores to thousands, with the actual figure probably close to 250.[23] Today, the LDS Church officially acknowledges that although the Manifesto "officially ceased" the practice of plural marriage in the church, "the ending of the practice after the Manifesto was ... gradual."[24][1]

The Manifesto has been canonized by the LDS Church, and its text appears in the Doctrine and Covenants, one of the church's books of scripture. However, when the Manifesto was issued, it was not apparent that Woodruff or the other leaders of the LDS Church viewed it as the result of a divine revelation.[27] Approximately one year after he declared the Manifesto, Woodruff began to claim that he had received instructions from Jesus Christ that formed the basis of what he wrote in the text of the Manifesto.[12] These instructions were reportedly accompanied by a vision of what would occur if the Manifesto were not issued.[12]

Following Woodruff's death in 1898, other church leaders began to teach that the Manifesto was the result of a revelation of God.[28] Since that time, church leaders have consistently taught that the Manifesto was inspired of God.[29][30][31] In 1908, the Manifesto was printed in the LDS Church's Doctrine and Covenants for the first time,[32] and it has been included in every edition since. A non-Mormon observer of the church has stated that "[t]here is no question that, from a doctrinal standpoint, President Woodruff's Manifesto now has comparable status with [Joseph Smith's] revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants".[33] Similarly, another writer has stated bluntly that "contemporary Latter-day Saints regard the Manifesto as a revelation".[32] The Manifesto is currently published as "Official Declaration 1" in the Doctrine and Covenants.

^ abc"The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage". lds.org. LDS Church. Retrieved 8 June 2015. The ledger of 'marriages and sealings performed outside the temple,' which is not comprehensive, lists 315 marriages performed between October 17, 1890, and September 8, 1903. Of the 315 marriages recorded in the ledger, research indicates that 25 (7.9%) were plural marriages and 290 were monogamous marriages (92.1%). Almost all the monogamous marriages recorded were performed in Arizona or Mexico. Of the 25 plural marriages, 18 took place in Mexico, 3 in Arizona, 2 in Utah, and 1 each in Colorado and on a boat on the Pacific Ocean.

^Burrows, Julius C.; Foraker, Joseph Benson; United States Congress Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections (1906), Proceedings Before the Committee On Privileges and Elections of the United States Senate in the Matter of The Protests Against the Right of Hon. Reed Smoot, a Senator From the State of Utah, To Hold His Seat, 59th Cong., 1st sess. Senate. Doc. 486, II, pp. 52-53, OCLC4795799

^Smith, Joseph Fielding (1971) [1922], Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (24th ed.), Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, pp. 493–94, OCLC48064256.

1.
Mormonism and polygamy
–
The Latter-day Saints practice of polygamy has been controversial, both within Western society and the LDS Church itself. America was both fascinated and horrified by the practice of polygamy, with the Republican platform at one time referencing the twin relics of barbarism—polygamy, the private practice of polygamy was instituted in the 1830s by founder Joseph Smith. In 1862, the United States Congress passed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, in spite of the law, Mormons continued to practice polygamy, believing that it was protected by the First Amendment. In 1890, church president Wilford Woodruff issued a Manifesto that officially terminated the practice of polygamy. Although this Manifesto did not dissolve existing plural marriages, relations with the United States markedly improved after 1890, on its web site, the church states that the standard doctrine of the church is monogamy and that polygamy was a temporary exception to the rule. Many early converts, including Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, and Lyman Johnson, Pratt reported that Smith told some early members in 1831 and 1832 that plural marriage was a true principle, but that the time to practise it had not yet come. Johnson also claimed to have heard the doctrine from Smith in 1831, mosiah Hancock reported that his father was taught about plural marriage in the spring of 1832. William Clayton, Smiths scribe, recorded polygamous marriages in 1843. Clayton relates, On the 1st day of May,1843, I officiated in the office of an Elder by marrying Lucy Walker to the Prophet Joseph Smith, during this period the Prophet Joseph took several other wives. Amongst the number I well remember Eliza Partridge, Emily Partridge, Sarah Ann Whitney, Helen Kimball and these all, he acknowledged to me, were his lawful, wedded wives, according to the celestial order. His wife Emma was cognizant of the fact of some, if not all, of these being his wives, the majority of what became the Quorum of the Twelve in 1835 attended Mormon conferences held in the center of the Cochranites in 1834 and 1835. Joseph Smith publicly condemned polygamy, denied his involvement in it, but church leaders nevertheless began practicing polygamy in the 1840s, particularly members of the Quorum of the Twelve. At the time, the practice was kept secret from non-members, throughout his life, Smith publicly denied having multiple wives. However, John C. Bennett was called to account by Joseph and Hyrum Smith, in April 1844, Joseph Smith referred to polygamy as John C. The practice was publicly announced in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, in 1852, some five years after the Mormons arrived in Utah, the doctrine authorizing plural marriage was published in the 1876 version of the LDS Churchs Doctrine and Covenants. The 1843 polygamy revelation, published posthumously, counseled Smiths wife Emma to accept all of Smiths plural wives, Emma Smith was publicly and privately opposed to the practice and Joseph may have married some women without Emma knowing beforehand. Emma Smith remained affiliated with the RLDS Church until her death at the age of 74, Emma Smith claimed that the very first time she ever became aware of the 1843 polygamy revelation was when she read about it in Orson Pratts publication The Seer in 1853. There is a difference between sealing, and marriage

2.
Origin of Latter Day Saint polygamy
–
Polygamy, or plural marriage, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints probably originated with the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, who taught that polygamy was a divine commandment. Smith practiced it personally, by some accounts marrying more than 30 women some of whom had existing marriages to other men. Smiths son Joseph Smith III, his widow Emma Smith, and they instead claimed that Brigham Young, the head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, introduced plural marriage after Smiths death. In 1852, leaders of the Utah-based LDS Church acknowledged that Smith taught, when polygamy was introduced into the Latter Day Saint movement is uncertain. Some scholars believe that Smith transcribed a revelation recommending polygamy on July 17,1831 and this alleged revelation is described in a letter to Brigham Young written in 1861 by an early Mormon convert, William W. Phelps, thirty years after the supposed revelation. This was during a period when LDS Church leaders were justifying the practice and origins of plural marriage, unlike the 1831 revelation, the 1830 version of the Book of Mormon does not specify that the Native Americans would become white and delightsome through plural marriage. Three authors assert that a record of the revelation exists, believed to be in the LDS Churchs historical department. The LDS Church never published Phelpss note or letter, nor has it been canonized as part of Mormon scripture, the church also never adopted a policy requiring or recommending that its members marry Native Americans. Though the 1831 revelation is cited by Mormon historians, non-Mormon historians, and critics, there are dissenting opinions, and no consensus has been reached. After Smiths death, many converts, including apostles Brigham Young, Orson Pratt. Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Smiths ninth wife claimed that Smith had a conversation with her in 1831 when she was twelve. Pratt reported that Smith told some early members in 1831 and 1832 that plural marriage was a true principle, Johnson also claimed to have heard the doctrine from Smith in 1831. Mosiah Hancock reported that his father Levi W. Hancock was taught about plural marriage in the spring of 1832. William Clayton, Smiths scribe, recorded polygamous marriages in 1843, including unions between Smith and Eliza Partridge, Emily Partridge, Sarah Ann Whitney, Helen Kimball, and Flora Woodworth. Mormons held two conferences at Saco, Maine, the center of Cochranism, on June 13,1834, at the latter conference, at least seven of the twelve newly-ordained Mormon apostles were in attendance, including Brigham Young. Others who spent time among the Cochranites were Orson Hyde and Smiths younger brother, among Cochrans marital innovations was spiritual wifery. Ridlon wrote in 1895, tradition assumes that received frequent consignments of spiritual consorts, some new Cochranites remained polygamists, and moved from the east coast to the Mormon community of Kirtland, Ohio. The revelation was dictated by Smith to his scribe William Clayton

3.
Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late-19th century
–
Possibly as early as the 1830s, followers of the Latter Day Saint movement, were practicing the doctrine of polygamy or plural marriage. In the years after the LDS Church began practicing polygamy, it drew intense scrutiny and this criticism led to the Utah Mormon War, and eventually the abandonment of the practice under the leadership of Wilford Woodruff, who issued the 1890 Manifesto. The announcement came nine years after the purported original revelation by Joseph Smith, Young was unable to produce the original document and declared that Smiths widow Emma Smith had burned it. Polygamy was roundly condemned by all sections of the American public. During the presidential election of 1856 a key plank of the newly formed Republican Partys platform was a pledge to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy, further tension grew due to the relationship between Gentile federal appointees and the Utah territorial leadership. This already tense situation was exacerbated by a period of intense religious revival starting in late 1856 dubbed the Mormon Reformation. In the midst of the American Civil War, Republican majorities in Congress were able to pass legislation meant to curb the Mormon practice of polygamy, one such act was the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, which was signed into law on July 8,1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. The act banned plural marriage and limited church and non-profit ownership in any territory of the United States to $50,000, the act targeted the LDS Churchs control of Utah Territory. The measure had no funds allocated for enforcement, and thus it was not rigorously enforced, the Mormons, believing that the law unconstitutionally deprived them of their First Amendment right to freely practice their religion, chose to ignore the law. In the following years, several bills aimed at strengthening the anti-bigamy laws failed to pass the United States Congress. These included the Wade, Cragin, and Cullom bills which had their origin in the territory of Utah and were initiated by men who were opposed to the Mormon establishment. The Wade Bill initiated in 1866 would have destroyed local government if it had passed, three years later, the Cragin Bill was proposed, but within a few days it was substituted by the Cullom Bill, which was more radical than the Wade or Cragin bills. Members of the church worked for the defeat of the bill, including women of the church, poland of Vermont, the Act redefined the jurisdiction of Utah courts by giving the United States district courts exclusive jurisdiction in Utah Territory over all civil and criminal cases. The Act also eliminated the territorial marshal and attorney, giving their duties to a U. S, the Act also altered petit and grand jury empaneling rules to keep polygamists off juries. By removing Latter-day Saints from positions of authority in the Utah justice system, immediately, under the act, the United States Attorney tried to bring leading church officials to trial. These efforts culminated in the sentencing of George Reynolds to two years hard labor in prison and a fine of five hundred dollars for his practice of polygamy, in 1876, the Utah Territorial Supreme Court upheld the sentence. Reynolds was released from prison in January 1881, having served eighteen months of his original sentence, cannon, a prominent leader in the church, was denied a non-voting seat in the House of Representatives due to his multiple marriages. This revived the issue in national politics, electoral obstacles to prosecution were now removed, and the new territorial officials began criminal prosecutions in ernest

4.
Second Manifesto
–
To be distinguished from the Second Manifesto of Surrealism The Second Manifesto was a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. In 1890, church president Wilford Woodruff had issued the initial Manifesto, however, after the Manifesto, it became clear that a number of church members, including members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, were continuing to enter into or solemnize polygamous marriages. The Second Manifesto was announced at the conference of the church held on April 6,1904. At a public meeting, Smith announced that he would like to read a statement that he had prepared so that his words may not be misunderstood or misquoted. Joseph F. Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, smiths official statement was later published in the Improvement Era, an official magazine of the church. A number of leaders were opposed to the enforcement of the Second Manifesto, including apostles John W. Taylor. As a result of their opposition, both resigned from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1906, and in 1911 Taylor was excommunicated for continued opposition. In 1909, Francis M. Lyman chaired a committee to investigate plural marriages since the Second Manifesto that excommunicated people who had been involved in such practices. As the church began to excommunicate those who continued to enter into plural marriages, John Wickersham Woolley Short Creek raid Gospel Topics, The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage, lds. org, LDS Church, retrieved 2014-10-22

5.
Council of Friends (Woolley)
–
The Council of Friends was one of the original expressions of Mormon fundamentalism, having its origins in the teachings of Lorin C. Woolley, a dairy farmer excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1924, Woolley, to ensure that the practice of polygamy would continue into perpetuity even if abandoned by the church. To that end, Woolley extended the same authority to a seven-man Council of Friends between 1929 and 1933. Following the death of Woolley in September 1934 and of his Second Elder J. Leslie Broadbent six months later, the leadership of the Group fell to John Y. Barlow believed that the isolated Creek could provide a place of refuge for those engaging in the practice of polygamy, a felony, within a month. The UEP was incorporated on November 9,1942, the group was notorious for the practice of polygamy due to media coverage during the Short Creek raids of 1945 and 1953. Additions were made to Woolleys Council of Friends as time went on, leroy S. Johnson and Rulon Jeffs, future leaders of the FLDS Church, were ordained by John Y. Barlow in the 1940s, while Joseph Mussers ordination of Rulon C, allred in 1952 caused a division in the community and led to the creation of the Apostolic United Brethren. Today, the AUB continues to be led by a Priesthood Council, indeed, Woolley claimed to have been ordained to the Council for precisely that purpose by President John Taylor in 1886, along with his father John W. Woolley and four others. Barlow, Joseph White Musser, Charles Zitting, LeGrande Woolley, the following are the leaders of the Council of Friends prior to the 1954 split, John W. Woolley Lorin C. Woolley J. Leslie Broadbent John Y, barlow Joseph W. Musser Charles Zitting

6.
Mormon fundamentalism
–
Mormon fundamentalists seek to uphold tenets and practices no longer held by mainstream Mormons. The principle most often associated with Mormon fundamentalism is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught in the Latter Day Saint movement by Joseph Smith, a second and closely associated principle is that of the United Order, a form of egalitarian communalism. Mormon fundamentalists believe that these and other principles were abandoned or changed by the LDS Church in its efforts to become reconciled with mainstream American society. Today, the LDS Church excommunicates any of its members who practice plural marriage or who otherwise closely associate themselves with Mormon fundamentalist practices, There is no single authority accepted by all Mormon fundamentalists, viewpoints and practices of individual groups vary. Fundamentalists have formed numerous small sects, often within cohesive and isolated communities in the Western United States, Western Canada, and northern Mexico. At times, sources have claimed there are as many as 60,000 Mormon fundamentalists in the United States, however, others have suggested that there may be as few as 20,000 Mormon fundamentalists with only 8,000 to 15,000 practicing polygamy. The largest Mormon fundamentalist groups are the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the LDS Church began prohibiting the contracting of plural marriages within the United States in 1890 after a decree by the president of the church, Wilford Woodruff. However, the practice continued underground in the U. S. and openly in Mormon colonies in northern Mexico and southern Alberta. According to some sources, many men in the United States continued to live with their plural wives with the approval of church presidents Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow. They make their argument based upon evidence and the fact that the Manifesto is not worded in accordance with similar revelations in the LDS scriptures. The LDS Church prevents any of its members who sympathize with Mormon fundamentalist teachings from entering its temples, during the 1920s, a church dissenter named Lorin C. Woolley claimed a line of priesthood authority from the LDS Churchs hierarchy. Most of the Mormon polygamous groups can trace their roots to Woolleys legacy, for the most part, the Utah state government has left the Mormon fundamentalists to themselves unless their practices violate laws other than those prohibiting bigamy. For example, there have been recent prosecutions of men who belong to fundamentalist groups for marrying underage girls, in one highly publicized case, a man and one of his polygamist wives lost custody of all but one of their children until the wife separated herself from her husband. The largest government effort to crack down on the practices of fundamentalist Mormons was carried out in 1953 in what is today Colorado City, Arizona, most Mormon fundamentalists embrace the term Fundamentalist. Mormon fundamentalists share certain commonalities with other fundamentalist movements, but also possess some clear distinctions of their own, in this view, ordination lineage becomes all-important and an external organization such as a church may lose its theological authority while the priesthood may continue via an alternative lineage. Mormon fundamentalists frequently assert that priesthood is prior to the Church, Mormon fundamentalists dislike the term polygamy and view polygyny as a term used only by outsiders. They also refer to plural marriage generically as the Principle, celestial marriage, the practice of plural marriage usually differs little from the manner in which it was practiced in the nineteenth century

7.
Joseph Smith
–
Joseph Smith Jr. was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was twenty-four, Smith published the Book of Mormon, by the time of his death fourteen years later, he had attracted tens of thousands of followers and founded a religious culture that continues to the present. In 1830, Smith published what he said was an English translation of these plates, the same year he organized the Church of Christ, calling it a restoration of the early Christian church. Members of the church were later called Latter Day Saints, or Mormons, in 1831, Smith and his followers moved west, planning to build a communalistic American Zion. They first gathered in Kirtland, Ohio, and established an outpost in Independence, Missouri, during the 1830s, Smith sent out missionaries, published revelations, and supervised construction of the expensive Kirtland Temple. In 1844, Smith and the Nauvoo city council angered non-Mormons by destroying a newspaper that had criticized Smiths power, after Smith was imprisoned in Carthage, Illinois, he was killed when a mob stormed the jailhouse. Smith published many revelations and other texts that his followers regard as scripture and his teachings include unique views about the nature of God, cosmology, family structures, political organization, and religious collectivism. Joseph Smith Jr. was born on December 23,1805, in Sharon, Vermont, to Lucy Mack Smith and her husband Joseph Sr. a merchant, after suffering a crippling bone infection when he was seven, the younger Smith used crutches for three years. During the Second Great Awakening, the region was a hotbed of religious enthusiasm, although Smiths parents disagreed about religion, the family was caught up in this excitement. Smith later said he became interested in religion at about the age of twelve, he participated in church classes, as a teenager, he may have been sympathetic to Methodism. With other family members, Smith also engaged in folk magic. Both his parents and his grandfather reportedly had visions or dreams that they believed communicated messages from God. Smith said that although he had become concerned about the welfare of his soul, years later Smith said that in 1820 he had received a vision that resolved his religious confusion. While praying in an area near his home, he said that God, in a vision, had told him his sins were forgiven. Smith said he told the experience to a preacher, who dismissed the story with contempt, but the experience was largely unknown, even to most Mormons, until the 1840s. Although Smith may have understood the event as a conversion, this First Vision later grew in importance among Mormons. Smith said he attempted to remove the plates the next morning but was unsuccessful because the angel prevented him, Smith reported that during the next four years, he made annual visits to the hill but each time returned without the plates. Meanwhile, the Smith family faced financial hardship due in part to the November 1823 death of Smiths oldest brother Alvin, Family members supplemented their meager farm income by hiring out for odd jobs and working as treasure seekers, a type of magical supernaturalism common during the period

8.
Brigham Young
–
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877 and he founded Salt Lake City and he served as the first governor of the Utah Territory. Young also led the foundings of the precursors to the University of Utah, Young was dubbed by his followers the Lion of the Lord for his bold personality and was also commonly called Brother Brigham by Latter-day Saints. Young was a polygamist and was involved in controversies regarding black people and the Priesthood, the Utah War, and the Mountain Meadows massacre. Young was born to John Young and Abigail Nabby Howe, a family in Whitingham, Vermont. Young was first married in 1824 to Miriam Angeline Works, though he had converted to the Methodist faith in 1823, Young was drawn to Mormonism after reading the Book of Mormon shortly after its publication in 1830. He officially joined the new church in 1832 and traveled to Upper Canada as a missionary, after his wife died in 1832, Young joined many Mormons in establishing a community in Kirtland, Ohio. In 1844, while in jail awaiting trial for treason charges, Joseph Smith, several claimants to the role of church president emerged during the succession crisis that ensued. Young opposed this reasoning and motion, the majority in attendance were persuaded that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was to lead the church with Young as the Quorums president. Many of Youngs followers would later reminisce that while Young spoke to the congregation, he looked or sounded exactly like Smith, Young was ordained President of the Church in December 1847, three and a half years after Smiths death. Rigdon became the president of a church organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Repeated conflict led Young to relocate his group of Latter-day Saints to the Salt Lake Valley, Young organized the journey that would take the Mormon pioneers to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, in 1846, then to the Salt Lake Valley. By the time Young arrived at the destination, it had come under American control as a result of war with Mexico. Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24,1847, Youngs expedition was one of the largest and one of the best organized westward treks. On August 22,29 days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, after three years of leading the church as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Young reorganized a new First Presidency and was declared president of the church on December 27,1847. As colonizer and founder of Salt Lake City, Young was appointed the territorys first governor, during his time as prophet, Young directed the establishment of settlements throughout present-day Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, California and parts of southern Colorado and northern Mexico. Young was also one of the first to subscribe to Union Pacific stock, Young organized the first legislature and established Fillmore as the territorys first capital. Young organized a Board of Regents to establish a university in the Salt Lake Valley and it was established on February 28,1850, as the University of Deseret, its name was eventually changed to the University of Utah

9.
Apostolic United Brethren
–
The Apostolic United Brethren is a fundamentalist group that promotes polygamy. The title Apostolic United Brethren is not generally used by members and those outside the faith sometimes refer to it as the Allred Group because two of its presidents shared that surname. The AUB is unrelated to other similarly named groups such as Churches of the Brethren and this fundamentalist group recently came into the Hollywood spotlight with the release of the hit Reality TV Series Sister Wives aired in 2010. The AUB furnished a description of their beliefs and practices in August 2009 to the Utah Attorney Generals Polygamy Primer. This booklet is used to educate the law enforcement and social relief agencies involved with similar groups, as of 1998, there were approximately 10,000 members of the AUB, most of whom reside in Utah and Mexico. The headquarters of the AUB is in Bluffdale, Utah, where it has a chapel, a school, archives, and it operates at least three private schools, many families also home-school or send their children to public or public charter schools. This can largely be attributed to the AUBs former prophet, Owen A. Allred believed that transparency was key in helping the community see that the AUB, the AUB is headed by a President of the Priesthood. Next in authority is a Priesthood Council, on a local level there are Bishops, Priesthood Council representatives, and patriarchs. General Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School meetings take place on Sundays, relief Society, Young Womens, Primary, and Scouting take place throughout the week. Dances, firesides, musical events, plays, and classes are held at meetinghouses. The AUB regards the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture in addition to the Bible, the AUB teaches that the LDS Church is still fulfilling a divine role in spreading the Book of Mormon and other basic doctrines of Mormonism, and in facilitating genealogy. Members of the AUB are known for their belief in plural marriage, other key beliefs include the United Order, the Adam–God doctrine, and what is commonly called the 1886 Meeting. While not all take part in plural marriage, it is considered a crucial step in the quest for obtaining the highest glory of heaven. Allred, told a fundamentalist congregation in 1966, We are specifically instructed through John Taylor by Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ, with the function of the Church. God’s Church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and he further explained in 1975, We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no matter who may decry it or who may deny it. We are functioning within the confines of the Church, he commented. Under his leadership, the Allred group did no work or temple work. He predicted in 1975 that the time is at hand when God is going to intervene in the matter, and the temples will be opened to us, the following day, the Woolleys, as well as Taylors counselor, George Q

10.
Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
–
The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was a federal enactment of the United States Congress that was signed into law on July 8,1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. Sponsored by Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont, the act banned bigamy in federal territories such as Utah and limited church, the act targeted the Mormon practice of plural marriage and the property dominance of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Utah Territory. The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was amended in 1882 by the Edmunds Act, enforcement of these acts start in July 1887. The issue went to the Supreme Court in the case Late Corp. of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States that upheld the Edmunds–Tucker Act on May 19,1890. Among other things, the act disincorporated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, within five months, the LDS Church officially discontinued the practice of plural marriage with the 1890 Manifesto. A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, U. S, congressional Documents and Debates,1774 -1875. A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, U. S, congressional Documents and Debates,1774 -1875. A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, U. S, congressional Documents and Debates,1774 -1875

11.
Poland Act
–
Poland of Vermont, the Act redefined the jurisdiction of Utah courts by giving the United States district courts exclusive jurisdiction in Utah Territory over all civil and criminal cases. The Act also eliminated the territorial marshal and attorney, giving their duties to a U. S, the Act also altered petit and grand jury empaneling rules to keep polygamists off juries. By removing Latter-day Saints from positions of authority in the Utah justice system, the Act was intended to allow for successful prosecutions of Mormon polygamists. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the bill known as the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act. In the following years, several bills aimed at strengthening the anti-bigamy laws failed to pass the United States Congress. These included the Wade, Cragin, and Cullom bills which had their origin in the Utah Territory and were initiated by men who were opposed to the Mormon curia. The Wade Bill initiated in 1866 would have destroyed local government if it had passed, three years later the Cragin Bill was proposed, but within a few days it was substituted by the Cullom Bill, which was more radical than the Wade or Cragin bills. Members of the church worked for the defeat of the bill, frank J. Cannon has this to say, Brigham had no trouble in organizing at home a resistance to the Cullom bill, in which Gentiles, Godbeites, and orthodox Mormons stood side by side. The women of Utah made a special and particular protest, the influence of railroad and telegraph friends was also called upon to resist the bill. At any rate, the Cullom bill died of neglect. Under the Poland Act, jury lists were to be drawn by the court clerk. Immediately the United States attorney tried to bring leading church officials to trial, many of the leaders of the church had married before the law was passed in 1862 and could not be tried ex post facto. Furthermore, the wives could not be required to testify against their husbands, and the records of plural marriages were kept privately in the Endowment House. After U. S. Reynolds agreed to serve, then provided the attorney numerous witnesses who could testify of his being married to two wives, and was indicted for bigamy by a jury on October 23,1874. When Carey did not keep his promise and arrested George Q, Cannon, church leaders decided that they would no longer cooperate with him. In 1875, Reynolds was convicted and sentenced to two years hard labor in prison and a fine of five hundred dollars, in 1876 the Utah Territorial Supreme Court upheld the sentence. Reynolds was released from prison in January 1881, having served eighteen months of his original sentence, professor Berrett first wrote this article Stephen Eliot Smith, “The ‘Mormon Question’ Revisited, Anti-polygamy Laws and the Free Exercise Clause”. Poland Act of 1874 Relating to the Courts of Utah 43rd U. S. Congress, 1st Session, Volume 18, Part 3, a Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, U. S

12.
Edmunds Act
–
The Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882, is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23,1882 by president Chester A. Arthur, declaring polygamy a felony. The act is named for U. S, senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont. The Edmunds Act also prohibited bigamous or unlawful cohabitation, thus removing the need to prove that actual marriages had occurred. A claim was made that the law violated the prohibition on ex post facto laws. A challenge to the statute was framed on these and other grounds. The Supreme Court ruled, in Murphy v. Ramsey,114 U. S.15, some modern scholars suggest the law may be unconstitutional for being in violation of the Free Exercise Clause. It also provided for a five-man Utah Commission appointed by the president to all aspects of the electoral process in Utah Territory. All elected offices throughout the territory were vacated, the board issued certificates to those who both denied a belief in polygamy and did not practice it, and new elections were held. Enforcement of the start in July 1887. The issue went to the Supreme Court in the case Late Corp. of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States that upheld the Edmunds–Tucker Act on May 19,1890. Among other things, the act disincorporated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, within five months, the LDS Church officially discontinued the practice of plural marriage with the 1890 Manifesto. More than 1,300 men were imprisoned under the terms of the Edmunds Act, rudger Clawson — August 1882 — a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who was the first person convicted. He was pardoned by President Grover Cleveland mere months before his sentence was going to expire, william J. Flake —1883 — one of the founders of Snowflake, Arizona, who married his second wife in 1868. Was imprisoned in the Yuma Territorial Prison in 1883, after his release, when asked which of his wives he was going to give up, he replied, Neither. I married both in faith and intended to support both of them. As he had served his sentence, he could not be retried on the same charges. Angus M. Cannon —1885 — a Stake President, member of the Council of Fifty, Cannon was sentenced to six months imprisonment and a $900 fine. Cannon was the appellant in the case of Cannon v. United States, cannons appeal was on the grounds that he had immediately ceased having sexual relations with the two wives he was accused of cohabiting with after polygamy was criminalized

13.
Reed Smoot hearings
–
The Reed Smoot hearings were a series of Congressional hearings on whether the United States Senate should seat U. S. Senator Reed Smoot, who was elected by the Utah legislature in 1903, Smoot was an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of the top 15 leaders of the church. The hearings began in 1904 and continued until 1907, when the Senate voted, the vote fell short of a two-thirds majority needed to expel a member so he retained his seat. For example, the President of the LDS Church Joseph F. Smith cohabited with his many wives, new plural marriages did end by 1909, but the practice continued until the polygamists died off. Smoot himself only had one wife, earlier, when it was well known that Brigham Young was a polygamist, the U. S. President appointed him twice as territorial governor and the Senate ratified the appointment. Much of the American Protestant establishment viewed the LDS Church with distrust, prior to being called as an apostle of the LDS Church, Smoot had run for a Senate position, but withdrew before the election. After becoming an apostle in 1900, he received the approval of church president Joseph F. Smith to run again in 1902 as a Republican, in January 1903, the Utah legislature elected Smoot with 46 votes, compared to his Democratic competitor, who won 16. When Senator Smoot arrived in Washington, D. C. in late February 1903, he was met with protests and charges that he was a polygamist, charges he could easily disprove. Unlike B. H. Roberts, who upon election to the House of Representatives was not allowed to sit while hearings took place, among the public, old charges of Danites, the Mountain Meadows massacre, and Brigham Youngs plural wives were discussed. In January 1904, Senator Smoot prepared a rebuttal to these criticisms with the help of several non-Mormon lawyers, the actual hearings began in March. LDS Church President Joseph F. Smith took the stand and was interrogated for three days. Apostles Matthias F. Cowley and John W. Taylor did not show up after being subpoenaed, apostle Marriner W. Merrill ignored one subpoena and died soon after being subpoenaed a second time. The public participated actively in the proceedings, in the Capitol, spectators lined the halls, waiting for limited seats in the committee room, and filled the galleries to hear floor debates. For those who could not see for themselves, journalists and cartoonists depicted each days admission, at the height of the hearing, some senators were receiving a thousand letters a day from angry constituents. What remains of public petitions fills 11 feet of shelf space. After years of hearings, the charges of the opposition included. Apostles John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley were still performing plural marriages in Mexico and Canada and that the church was exerting too much influence on Utah politics. That members were required to take oaths in the temples to seek revenge on the United States and that members believed revelation was higher than the laws of the land

14.
Reynolds v. United States
–
Reynolds v. United States,98 U. S.145, was a Supreme Court of the United States case that held that religious duty was not a defense to a criminal indictment. Reynolds was the first Supreme Court opinion to address the Impartial Jury and he was secretary to Brigham Young and presented himself as a test of the federal governments attempt to outlaw polygamy. An earlier conviction was overturned on technical grounds, on the other hand, in subsequent years, efforts had been underway to strengthen the anti-bigamy laws. In 1875, Reynolds was convicted and sentenced to two years hard labor in prison and a fine of five hundred dollars, in 1876 the Utah Territorial Supreme Court upheld the sentence. Previously, U. S. Attorney William Carey promised to stop his attempts to indict general authorities during the test case, however when Carey failed to keep his promise and arrested George Q. Cannon, LDS Church leaders decided that they would no longer cooperate with him, Reynolds was indicted in the District Court for the 3rd Judicial District of the Territory of Utah under sect. Reynolds tried to have the jury instructed that if they found he committed bigamy with the intention of following his religion. After being found guilty by the court, Reynolds appealed to the Utah Territorial Supreme Court. The Court affirmed Reynoldss conviction unanimously, chief Justice Morrison Waite wrote on behalf of himself and seven colleagues. Justice Field wrote a concurrence that dissented on one minor point, the Court considered whether Reynolds could use religious belief or duty as a defense. Reynolds had argued that as a Mormon, it was his religious duty as a member of the church to practice polygamy if possible. The Court recognized that under the First Amendment, the Congress cannot pass a law prohibits the free exercise of religion. However it held that the law prohibiting bigamy did not meet that standard, the principle that a person could only be married singly, not plurally, existed since the times of King James I of England in English law, upon which United States law was based. The former lies solely between man and his God, therefore the legislative powers of the government reach actions only, the Court believed the First Amendment forbade Congress from legislating against opinion, but allowed it to legislate against action. Reynolds argued that the jury that had indicted him was not legal. United States law at that time required that a grand jury consist of no fewer than 16 persons, the grand jury that indicted Reynolds had only 15 persons. The court rejected this argument because the Utah Territory had passed a law in 1870 under which a jury had to consist of only 15 persons. During his original trial, Reynolds had challenged two jurors, both of whom stated that they had formed an opinion on the guilt or innocence of Reynolds before the trial

15.
Angus M. Cannon
–
Angus Munn Cannon was an early Latter Day Saint leader and Mormon pioneer. Cannon was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England and his Manx parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1840, being baptized by his uncle John Taylor. In 1842, the Cannon family went to Nauvoo, Illinois, by 1849, they were in Utah Territory. Cannon was the brother of George Q. Cannon and their lives followed very similar paths up until their arrival in Utah, in 1854, Cannon went on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Eastern United States, where he assisted John Taylor in publishing a periodical entitled The Mormon. He also preached and baptized in Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Cannon returned to Utah Territory due to the troubles connected with the Utah War. In 1864, Cannon helped establish Calls Landing on the Colorado River, later known as Callville, Callville was submerged when Lake Mead was filled. In 1869 and 1870, Cannon served a mission in the Eastern United States. In April 1876, Cannon became president of the Salt Lake Stake of the LDS Church and he served in this position until April 1,1904. After his time as president, Cannon served as a patriarch in the church. Cannon was the mayor of St. George, Utah Territory in 1861 and 1862, in 1896, after Utah had become a U. S. state, he stood for election as the Republican Party candidate for a state senate seat in Salt Lake County. He was defeated by one of his wives, Martha Hughes Cannon, like many early members of the LDS Church, Cannon practiced plural marriage. Cannon was the appellant in the case of Cannon v. United States, Cannon had been convicted under the Edmunds Act of unlawful cohabitation with more than one wife and sentenced to six months imprisonment and a $900 fine. Cannon appealed his conviction on the grounds that he had ceased having sexual relations with the two wives he was accused of cohabiting with after polygamy was criminalized. Cannon was pardoned in 1894 by U. S. President Grover Cleveland, Cannon died of apoplexy in Salt Lake City, Utah. Clara C. M. Cannon Cannon, Donald Q, angus M. Cannon, Pioneer, President, Patriarch. Supporting Saints, Life Stories of Nineteenth-Century Mormons, Religious Studies Center Specialized Monograph Series. Provo, Utah, Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University

16.
Clawson v. United States
–
Clawson v. United States,113 U. S. The appeal was perfected and the certificate was filed in the proper office, the defendant thereupon applied to the court in which he was sentenced to be let to bail pending his appeal. The accused then sued out a writ of habeas corpus from the supreme court of the territory. In his petition therefor, he stated that he was then imprisoned, the supreme court of the territory overruled the application for bail, and remanded the petitioner to the custody of the marshal. From that order the present appeal was prosecuted, list of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 113113143 Justia. com 114 U. S.477,5 S. Ct. 949, The RJ&L Religious Liberty Archive, The Religious Institutions Group

17.
Davis v. Beason
–
Davis v. Beason,133 U. S. Congress had passed the Edmunds Act in 1882, which made polygamy a felony, over 1,300 Mormons were imprisoned. The Act also required test oaths requiring voters to swear they were not bigamists or polygamists, a statute of the Idaho Territory required a similar oath, in order to limit or eliminate Mormons participation in government and their control of local schools. Mormons initiated a challenge to Idahos oath test, davis, a resident of Idaho, was convicted in the territorial district court of swearing falsely after taking the voters oath. Davis appealed his conviction via a habeas corpus writ, claiming that the Idaho law requiring the oath violated his right to the exercise of his religion as a member of the LDS Church. Justice Field, writing for the Court, condemned polygamy, writing that Few crimes are more pernicious to the best interests of society and he went on to echo Reynolds v. those who have been convicted of certain offenses. Has the Court concluded that the social harm of polygamy is a legitimate concern of government

18.
Cleveland v. United States (1946)
–
Cleveland v. United States,329 U. S. Individuals were members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect that practiced polygamy, the individuals were indicted for transporting women across state lines to enter into plural marriages. Following a bench trial, all of the individuals were convicted for violations of the Mann Act and they then appealed their convictions to the U. S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the convictions, the U. S. Supreme Court then granted certiorari to hear the case. Justice William O. Douglas delivered the opinion of the court, in noting the historical unlawfulness of polygamy in the United States, the Court found polygamy to be an immoral act of the type contemplated by the Mann Acts prohibitions. Finally, the Court found that there is no defense to the Mann Act by virtue of the religious beliefs that motivate the practice of polygamy. Justice Wiley Blount Rutledge delivered a concurring opinion, cleveland v. United States,329 U. S.14. Caminetti v. United States,242 U. S.470

19.
Brown v. Buhman
–
Brown v. Buhman is a legal case in the United States federal courts challenging the State of Utahs criminal polygamy law. The action was filed in 2011 by polygamous patriarch Kody Brown along with his wives Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, the Brown family belongs to the Apostolic United Brethren faith, they are best known in connection with a reality television series featuring them, Sister Wives. The Tenth Circuit concluded that because local Utah prosecutors had a policy of not pursuing most polygamy cases, video footage of a marriage ceremony between Kody Brown and Robyn Sullivan was potential evidence against them. Kody Brown has claimed the family is breaking no laws because only the first marriage is a legal marriage, while the others are simply commitments. However, experts claim that the history as a unit for 16 years. In anticipation of legal scrutiny, the producers of the show contacted the Utah Attorney Generals office months before the series was broadcast, prior to the Sister Wives premiere, it had been nine years since anyone in Utah had been prosecuted for practicing polygamy. Once the investigation concluded, the police turned their evidence over to the Utah County Attorneys office for review, despite Brown being only legally married to one woman, Lehi police have noted that state code identifies bigamy through cohabitation, not just legal marriage contracts. In response to the investigation, the Browns released a statement, We are disappointed in the announcement of an investigation, but for the sake of our family, and most importantly, our kids, we felt it was a risk worth taking. Additionally, Kody said the show negatively affected some of his advertising sales and we are one of those families. We only wish to live our lives according to our beliefs. We are indebted to Professor Turley and his team for their work, together we hope to secure equal treatment with other families in the United States. On June 1,2012, the case against the Browns was dropped. However, the suit filed by the Browns remained active after U. S. The hearing on the case occurred in January 2013, unlawful cohabitation, where prosecutors did not need to prove that a marriage ceremony had taken place, had been a major tool used to prosecute polygamy in Utah since the 1882 Edmunds Act. The State of Utah appealed the ruling to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, oral argument was held on January 21,2016. The State of Utah was represented by Parker Douglas, the plaintiffs were represented by George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley, acting pro bono. On April 11,2016, a panel of the Tenth Circuit unanimously ordered the district court to dismiss the case on standing grounds. Judge Scott Matheson Jr. wrote for the court, and was joined by Judge Bobby Ray Baldock and Judge Nancy Moritz

20.
Celestial marriage
–
Celestial marriage is a doctrine of Mormonism, particularly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and branches of Mormon fundamentalism. Within the LDS Church, celestial marriage is an associated with a covenant that usually takes place inside temples by those authorized to hold the sealing power. The only people allowed to enter the temple, be married there, obtaining a temple recommend requires one to abide by LDS Church doctrine and be interviewed and considered worthy by their bishop and stake president. A prerequisite to contracting a marriage, in addition to obtaining a temple recommend, involves undergoing the temple endowment. In the marriage ceremony a man and a woman make covenants to God and to other and are said to be sealed as husband and wife for time. In the 19th century, the celestial marriage usually referred to the practice of plural marriage. The term is used in this sense by Mormon fundamentalists not affiliated with the LDS Church. In the LDS Church today, both men and women may enter a marriage with only one living partner at a time. A man may be sealed to more than one woman, if his wife dies, he may enter another celestial marriage, and be sealed to both his living wife and deceased wife or wives. Many Mormons believe that all these marriages will be valid in the eternities, in 1998, the LDS Church changed the policy and now also allows women to be sealed to more than one man. A woman, however, may not be sealed to more than one man at a time while she is alive and she may only be sealed to subsequent partners after she has died. Proxy sealings, like proxy baptisms, are offered to the person in the afterlife. According to church teachings, the marriage covenant, as with other covenants. If only one remains righteous that person is promised a righteous eternal companion in eternity, Mormons do not interpret Jesus statement as meaning that marriages will not exist after the Resurrection, but that marriages will not be performed after the Resurrection. Thus, Mormons believe that only mortals can be the subject of an eternal marriage ordinance, celestial marriage is an instance of the LDS Church doctrine of sealing. Following a celestial marriage, not only are the couple sealed as husband and wife, Mormons believe that through this sealing, man, wife and children will live together forever, if obedient to Gods commandments. There is substantial doctrinal dispute between the LDS Church and its offshoots as to whether celestial marriage is plural or monogamous, sealings for time and eternity were being performed for monogamous couples long before 1890. Throughout all time periods of the LDS Churchs history, the majority of temple sealings were between one man and one wife

21.
Polygamy in North America
–
Polygamy is the practice of taking more than one spouse. Polygyny is the practice of one man taking more than one wife. In North America polygamy has not been a culturally normative or legally recognized institution since the colonization by Europeans. It is now approved in Michigan, however, breakaway Mormon fundamentalist groups living mostly in the western United States, Canada, and Mexico still practice plural marriage. Some other Americans practice polygamy including some American Muslims, Polygamy is the act or condition of a person marrying another person while still being lawfully married to another spouse. It is illegal in the United States, the crime is punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both, according to the law of the individual state and the circumstances of the offense. As of 2008, there were no longer any federal laws against polygamy, but there are laws against the practice in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, known bigamists are inadmissible to the United States. Many US courts treat bigamy as a strict liability crime, in jurisdictions a person can be convicted of a felony even if he reasonably believed he had only one legal spouse. For example, if a person has the belief that their previous spouse is dead or that their divorce is final. In Canada the federal Criminal Code applies throughout the country and it extends the normal definition of polygamy to having any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time. Also anyone who assists, celebrates, or is a part to a rite, ceremony, Polygamy is an offence punishable by up to five years in prison. Polygamy in the United States has a long history, many Native American tribes practiced polygamy and European mountain men often took native wives and adopted the practice. Some tribes seem to have continued the practice into the 20th century, scots-Irish settlers, and some Welsh emigrants, carried long-standing multiple partner traditions to the Americas from Europe. Utopian and communal groups established during the century had varying marriage systems, including group marriage. There is also evidence in the American South for multiple marriage partners. Polygamy has also practiced, discreetly, by some Muslims living in America. However, these marriages are not recognized by American law. Because polygamy has been throughout the United States since the mid-19th century

22.
Freedom of religion in the United States
–
In the United States, freedom of religion is a constitutionally protected right provided in the religion clauses of the First Amendment. The United States Constitution addresses the issue of religion in two places, in the First Amendment, and the Article VI prohibition on religious tests as a condition for holding public office. The First Amendment prohibits the Congress from making a law respecting an establishment of religion and this provision was later expanded to state and local governments, through the Incorporation of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, New Amsterdam Director-General Peter Stuyvesant issued an edict prohibiting the harboring of Quakers, on December 27,1657, the inhabitants of Flushing approved a protest known as The Flushing Remonstrance. This contained religious arguments even mentioning freedom for Jews, Turks, and Egyptians, Freedom of religion was first applied as a principle in the founding of the colony of Maryland, also founded by the Catholic Lord Baltimore, in 1634. The Maryland Toleration Act was repealed with the assistance of Protestant assemblymen, in 1657, Lord Baltimore regained control after making a deal with the colonys Protestants, and in 1658 the Act was again passed by the colonial assembly. This time, it would last more than thirty years, until 1692, in addition in 1704, an Act was passed to prevent the growth of Popery in this Province, preventing Catholics from holding political office. Full religious toleration would not be restored in Maryland until the American Revolution, as well as banning Quakers and Anabaptists. These colonies became safe havens for persecuted religious minorities, Catholics and Jews also had full citizenship and free exercise of their faiths. Williams, Hooker, Penn, and their friends were firmly convinced that democracy, williams gave the most profound theological reason, As faith is the free gift of the Holy Spirit, it cannot be forced upon a person. Therefore, strict separation of church and state has to be kept, Pennsylvania was the only colony that retained unlimited religious freedom until the foundation of the United States. The inseparable connection of democracy, freedom of religion, and the forms of freedom became the political and legal basis of the new nation. The Free Exercise Clause states that Congress cannot prohibit the exercise of religious practices. The Supreme Court of the United States has consistently held, however, the Court reasoned that to do otherwise would set precedent for a full range of religious beliefs including those as extreme as human sacrifice. The Court stated that Laws are made for the government of actions, for example, if one were part of a religion that believed in vampirism, the First Amendment would protect ones belief in vampirism, but not the practice. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the religious civil rights, Constitution also provides that No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification of any Office or public Trust under the United States. Several states have included in their constitutions that requires state office-holders to have particular religious beliefs. These include Arkansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, some of these beliefs were historically required of jurors and witnesses in court

23.
Mormon colonies in Mexico
–
Many of the original colonists came to Mexico due to federal attempts to curb and prosecute polygamy in the United States. The towns making up the colonies were situated in the states of Chihuahua and Sonora. By the early 20th century, many of these were relatively prosperous, however, in the summer of 1912, the colonies were evacuated due to anti-American sentiment during the Mexican Revolution and many of their citizens left for the United States and never returned. Some colonists did eventually return to their settlements, but today only Colonia Juárez, the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua México Temple, built in 1999, is located in Colonia Juárez, and is currently the smallest temple the LDS Church operates. As early as 1874, Brigham Young, President of the LDS Church, in 1875, settlers set out with the dual purpose of proselytizing and finding prospective locations for Mormon settlements. The missionaries returned with positive reports the next year and another group was sent in October 1876, in 1877, Young discussed the idea of colonizing parts of northern Mexico, but it was considered unwise due to the considerable danger from Apache raiders in the area. Young died later that year and leadership of the fell to John Taylor as the president of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. John Taylor was ordained as prophet in 1880, Taylor continued Youngs policy of missionary work in Mexico, and through the early 1880s colonization was considered on several occasions without effort to begin the process. However, in 1882 the Edmunds Act was passed by the United States Congress and this was part of the by then 20-year struggle by the US government to curb the LDS practice of plural marriage in Utah Territory and other locations in the American West. Among other things, the law felonized the practice of polygamy, as a result, over a thousand Latter-day Saint men and women were eventually fined and jailed. Some were sent as far away as Michigan to fulfill their terms, in 1885 President John Taylor purchased 100,000 acres of land in Mexico. This act allowed over 350 Latter-day Saint families who practiced polygamy from Utah and this was a very strenuous task, but it allowed the men the opportunity to keep their multiple wives without being fined and jailed. These people started their own farming colonies and established their settlements in Chihuahua and Sonora, where they focused their labors on sheep, cattle, wheat, row crops, and fruit orchards. The anti-foreign sentiment of The Mexican Revolution in 1910 made life there for the Latter-day Saint colonists difficult with many threats, the colonists returned to the United States. When it was decided it was safe, less than one-quarter of the previous population re-settled to Mexico, most of the returned to their Utah. The Mexican Latter-day Saints colonies did not return to their previous success due to the living conditions. Only two colonies remain, Colonia Dublán and Colonia Juárez, members of the Romney family have roots in these colonies, including Marion G. Romney and George W. Romney having been born there. Many Mormon settlements in the United States are in areas that at one time belonged to Mexico, Mormon Colonies in Mexico is also the title of a 1938 book by Thomas Cottam Romney

24.
Short Creek raid
–
The Short Creek raid was the largest mass arrest of polygamists in American history. At the time, it was described as the largest mass arrest of men and women in modern American history, just before dawn on July 26,1953,102 Arizona officers of public safety and soldiers from the Arizona National Guard entered Short Creek. The entire community was taken into custody, with the exception of six individuals who were not to be fundamentalist Mormons. Among those taken into custody were 263 children, one hundred and fifty of the children who were taken into custody were not permitted to return to their parents for more than two years, and some parents never regained custody of their children. More than 100 reporters had been invited by Pyle to accompany the police to observe the raid, were those teenagers playing volleyball in a school yard inspiring a rebellion. Well, if so, an insurrection with diapers and volleyballs, one commentator has suggested that commentary on the raid was probably the first time in history that American polygamists had received media coverage that was largely sympathetic. Another has suggested that the raids only American parallel is the actions against Native Americans in the nineteenth century. When Pyle lost his bid for re-election in 1954 to Democratic candidate Ernest McFarland, one of the few media outlets to applaud the raid was the Salt Lake City-based Deseret News, which was owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The News applauded the action as a response to prevent the fundamentalists from becoming a cancer of a sort that is beyond hope of human repair. The Short Creek raid was the last action against polygamous Mormon fundamentalists that has been supported by the LDS Church. After the Short Creek raid, the fundamentalist Mormon polygamist colony at Short Creek eventually rejuvenated, Short Creek was renamed Colorado City in 1960. In 1991, the Mormon fundamentalists at Colorado City formally established the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the members of the sect did not face any prosecutions for its polygamous behavior until the late 1990s, when isolated individuals began to be prosecuted. In 2006, FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs was placed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted List, he was arrested in 2007, as of 8 April, a total of 416 children had been removed from the compound by authorities. A former member of the FLDS Church, Carolyn Jessop, arrived on-site 6 April, others, however, have drawn direct connections between the two events. Photos From a Notorious 1953 Raid on a Polygamist Arizona Town - LIFE Magazine archive

25.
Lost boys (Mormon fundamentalism)
–
They are alleged to be pressured to leave by adult men to reduce competition for wives within such sects, usually when they are between the ages of 13 and 21. Since birth rates for boys and girls are equal, and women do not enter the community in large numbers. While some boys leave by their own choice, many are ostensibly banished for conduct such as watching a movie, watching television, playing football, some boys are told not to return unless they can return with a wife. One estimate is that between 400 and 1,000 boys and young men have been pressured to leave for such reasons, there are also young women who have left or been pressured to leave because they did not want to be part of polygamous marriages. Boys in these sects are commonly raised not to trust the outside world, the families of banished boys are told that the boys are now dead to them. In the 2006-2011 HBO television series Big Love, the main protagonist is a former lost boy, the series portrays machinations of some senior men within a fundamentalist congregation to reserve young unmarried women for themselves. The 2010 documentary film Sons of Perdition depicts the struggles of three real-life lost boys, the 2013 Off-Broadway play Exit 27 dramatized the story of 4 lost boys struggling to survive in the desert out side Colorado city. Playwright Aleks Merilo based the script on interviews conducted with lost boys living in Hurricane, operational sex ratio Population dynamics YFZ Ranch Ex-Mormon Krakauer, Jon. Under the Banner of Heaven, A Story of Violent Faith, gods Brothel, The Extortion of Sex for Salvation in Contemporary Mormon and Christian Fundamentalist Polygamy and the Stories of 18 Women Who Escaped. Bistline, Benjamin G. Colorado City Polygamists, An Inside Look for the Outsider, a Colorado City historian presents the beginnings of the group and its original religious doctrine. The Polygamists, A History of Colorado City, Arizona Tracy, centered on the trial of John Daniel Kingston, who was tried for assault on his 16-year-old daughter. Llewellyn, John R. Polygamy Under Attack, From Tom Green to Brian David Mitchell Dan Simon & Amanda Townsend, warren Jeffs lost boys find themselves in strange world. A documentary film on the history and modern-day expressions of Mormon polygamy, including numerous testimonials. smilesfordiversity. org/cod. php

26.
YFZ Ranch
–
As of April 2014, the State of Texas took physical and legal possession of the property. Under Texas law, authorities can seize property that was used to commit or facilitate certain criminal conduct, the YFZ Ranch was about 45 miles southwest of San Angelo and 4 miles northeast of Eldorado. The Ranch was settled by members of the FLDS Church who left Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona under increasing scrutiny from the media, anti-polygamy activists and law enforcement officials. Speaking in Sunday church services on August 10,2003, Warren Jeffs declared that the blessings of the priesthood had been removed from the community of Short Creek. Following the sermon, Jeffs suspended all further meetings but continued to allow his followers to pay their tithes. He then turned his focus to what he called lands of refuge, Jeffs referred to Yearning for Zion Ranch, one of the lands of refuge, by the code name R17. The YFZ Land LLC, through its president, David S. Allred, purchased the ranch in 2003 for $700,000, when he purchased the property, he declared that the buildings would be a corporate hunting retreat. Later, ranch officials disclosed that the hunting retreat description was inaccurate, the ranch was home to approximately 500 people who relocated from Arizona and Utah communities. It housed a temple, a treatment facility, a 29, 000-square-foot house for FLDS Church president Warren Jeffs, a meeting house. There were generators, gardens, a silo, and a large stone quarry that was cut for the temple. According to preliminary tax assessments, about $3 million worth of buildings had been built, the sect was fined over $34,000 for environmental violations in connection with buildings on the ranch, mainly due to its failure to obtain the required permits for its cement-mixing operations. The temple foundation was dedicated January 1,2005, by Warren Jeffs, on March 29,2008, a local domestic violence shelter hotline took a call from a female claiming to be a 16-year-old victim of physical and sexual abuse at the churchs YFZ Ranch. The call triggered a large-scale operation at YFZ Ranch by Texas law enforcement and child welfare officials, authorities believed the children had been abused or were at immediate risk of future abuse, a state spokesman said. Troopers and child welfare officials searched the ranch, including the temples safes, vaults, locked desk drawers and they found evidence leading them to believe that the beds were in a part of the temple where males over the age of 17 engage in sexual activity with underage girls. Interviews with the revealed that several underage girls were forced into spiritual marriage with much older men as soon as they reached puberty and were then made pregnant. The children were held by the Child Protective Services at Fort Concho, over a hundred adult women chose to leave the ranch to accompany the children. A former member of the FLDS Church, Carolyn Jessop, arrived on-site April 6 in hopes of reuniting two of her daughters with their half siblings and she stated that the actions in Texas were unlike the 1953 Short Creek raid in Arizona. Jessop had been in Texas the prior month at an engagement, where she said, n Eldorado

27.
Polygamy czar
–
Polygamy czar is an informal title given to the Investigator of Crimes within Closed Societies for the Utah Attorney Generals Office. The position was established by the Utah State Legislature in 2000, a fictionalized czar was introduced in the HBO series Big Love in the episode Affair. Ron Barton Jim Hill Winslow, Ben, polygamy czar quits to take crime lab helm. Archived from the original on 2014-10-22

28.
Legal status of polygamy
–
Polygamy is legal in 58 out of nearly 200 sovereign states, the vast majority of them being Muslim-majority countries situated in Africa and Asia. In most of states, polygyny is allowed and legally sanctioned. Polyandry is illegal in every state in the world. The rest of the states do not recognize polygamous marriages. Algeria Cameroon Chad Central African Republic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Gabon, in practice, the right to multiple spouses is reserved for men only. The Gambia Guinea Libya Kenya, Polygyny legal under legislation passed in 2014, india Malaysia Philippines Singapore Sri Lanka Benin Côte dIvoire, Polygamy may be punishable by six months to three years imprisonment, or a fine of CFA50,000 to CFA500,000. Eritrea, Illegal since 1977, after 2015 polygamy is punishable with a term of imprisonment of not less than 6 months and not more than 12 months. However, pre-existing Muslim marriages are still valid. Mozambique Rwanda All countries in the American continent forbid polygamy, antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada, All forms of polygamy, and some informal multiple sexual relationships, are illegal under section 293 of the Criminal Code. Bigamy is banned by section 290, however, for a long time, the law banning polygamy has not been efficient. As of January 2009, no person had been prosecuted, i. e. convicted. He wrote, I have concluded that case is essentially about harm. More specifically, Parliaments reasoned apprehension of harm arising out of the practice of polygamy and this includes harm to women, to children, to society and to the institution of monogamous marriage. Bauman argued that there are cases where the wives are abducted and abused and he reasons that these offences sometimes may be stopped by applying anti-polygamy legislation. The decision was welcomed by the Attorney General of British Columbia, womens rights were central to decision. From about 1847 to 1857, in what is now the state of Utah, many Mormons practiced polygamy, the US federal government threatened The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and made polygamy illegal through the enforcement of Acts of Congress such as the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act. The LDS Church formally outlawed the practice in 1890, in a document labeled The Manifesto, among American Muslims, a small minority of around 50,000 to 100,000 people are estimated to live in families with a husband maintaining an informal polygamous relationship. Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela Armenia Azerbaijan China and this replaced a similar 1950 prohibition

29.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
–
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations, according to the church, it has over 70,000 missionaries and a membership of over 15 million. It is ranked by the National Council of Churches as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States and it is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. Adherents, often referred to as Latter-day Saints, or, less formally, Mormons, view faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement as fundamental principles of their religion. The church has a canon which includes four scriptural texts, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants. The current president is Thomas S. Monson, individual members of the church believe that they can also receive personal revelation from God in conducting their lives. The president heads a hierarchical structure with various levels reaching down to local congregations, Bishops, drawn from the laity, lead local congregations. Male members, after reaching age 12, may be ordained to the priesthood, Women do not hold positions within the priesthood, but do occupy leadership roles in some church auxiliary organizations. Both men and women may serve as missionaries, and the church maintains a large missionary program which proselytizes, faithful members adhere to church laws of sexual purity, health, fasting, and Sabbath observance, and contribute ten percent of their income to the church in tithing. The LDS Church was formally organized by Joseph Smith on April 6,1830, Smith intended to establish the New Jerusalem in North America, called Zion. In 1831, the moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and began establishing an outpost in Jackson County, Missouri. However, in 1833, Missouri settlers brutally expelled the Latter Day Saints from Jackson County, the Kirtland era ended in 1838, after a financial scandal rocked the church and caused widespread defections. Smith regrouped with the church in Far West, Missouri. Believing the Saints to be in insurrection, the Missouri governor ordered that the Saints be exterminated or driven from the State, in 1839, the Saints converted a swampland on the banks of the Mississippi River into Nauvoo, Illinois, which became the churchs new headquarters. Nauvoo grew rapidly as missionaries sent to Europe and elsewhere gained new converts who then flooded into Nauvoo, meanwhile, Smith introduced polygamy to his closest associates. He also established ceremonies, which he stated the Lord had revealed to him, to allow people to become gods in the afterlife. He also introduced the church to an accounting of his First Vision. This vision would come to be regarded by the LDS Church as the most important event in history since the resurrection of Jesus

30.
President of the Church (LDS Church)
–
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the President of the Church is the highest office of the church. It was the held by Joseph Smith, founder of the church. The President of the LDS Church is the leader and the head of the First Presidency. Latter-day Saints consider the president of the church to be a prophet, seer, and revelator, and refer to him as the Prophet, when the name of the president is used by adherents, it is usually prefaced by the title President. The President of the Church serves as the head of both the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes and the Council of the Church, the President of the Church also serves as the ex officio chairman of the Church Boards of Trustees/Education. The concept that the Church of Christ would have a single presiding officer arose in late 1831, initially, after the churchs formation on April 6,1830, Joseph Smith referred to himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and elder of the church. However, there was another apostle—Oliver Cowdery—and several other elders of the church, for he receiveth them even as Moses. This established Smiths exclusive right to lead the church, in early June 1831, Smith was ordained to the high priesthood, along with twenty-two other men, including prominent figures in the church such as Hyrum Smith, Parley P. Pratt, and Martin Harris. As high priests, these men were higher in the hierarchy than the elders of the church. However, it was unclear whether Smiths and Cowderys callings as apostles gave them superior authority to that of other high priests. And again the duty of the President of the priesthood is to preside over the whole church. Smith was ordained to this position and sustained by the church on January 25,1832, at a conference in Amherst, in 1835, the Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ were revised, changing the phrase an. Elder of the church to the first elder of this Church, thus, subsequent to 1835, Smith was sometimes referred to as the First Elder of the church. The 1835 revision also added a verse referring to the office of president of the high priesthood, in 1844, while in jail awaiting trial for treason charges, Joseph Smith was killed by an armed mob. Hyrum Smith, his successor, was killed in the same incident. Smith had not indisputably established who was next in line as successor to President of the Church, several claimants to the role of church president emerged during the succession crisis that ensued. Young would not be ordained President of the Church until December 1847, thomas S. Monson is the 16th and current President of the LDS Church. As president, Monson is considered by adherents of the religion to be a prophet, seer, a printer by trade, Monson has spent most of his life engaged in various church leadership positions and in public service

31.
Wilford Woodruff
–
Wilford Woodruff Sr. was an American religious leader who served as the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 until his death. Woodruff was known as a religious man, but was also enthusiastically involved in the social. He was an outdoorsman, enjoying fishing and hunting. Woodruff learned to fly fish in England, and his 1847 journal account of his fishing in the East Fork River is the earliest known account of fly fishing west of the Mississippi River. As an adult, Woodruff was a farmer, horticulturist and stockman by trade, Woodruff was one of nine children born to Bulah Thompson and Aphek Woodruff, a miller working in Farmington, Connecticut. Wilfords mother Bulah Thompson died of spotted fever in 1808 at the age of 26 and he was raised by his step-mother Azubah Hart. As a young man, Woodruff worked at a sawmill and a mill owned by his father. Woodruff joined the Latter Day Saint church on December 31,1833, at that time, the church numbered only a few thousand believers clustered around Kirtland, Ohio. On January 13,1835, Woodruff left Kirtland on his first full-time mission, preaching without purse or scrip in Arkansas, like many early Latter Day Saints, Woodruff practiced plural marriage. He was married to nine women, however, not all of these marriages were concurrent and his wives, Phoebe Whittemore Carter, m. April 13,1837 Mary Ann Jackson, m, aug 2,1846 Sarah Elinor Brown, m. Aug 2,1846 Mary Caroline Barton, m, aug 2,1846 Mary Meek Giles Webster m. March 28,1852 Emma Smith m, March 13,1853 Sarah Brown, m. March 13,1853 Sarah Delight Stocking m, July 31,1857 Eudora Young Dunford m. March 10,1877 Woodruffs wives bore him a total of 34 children, Woodruff met his first wife, Phoebe Carter, in Kirtland shortly after his return from his first mission through Southern Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky. Woodruff came to Kirtland on November 25,1836, along with Abraham O. Smoot and he was introduced to Phoebe by Milton Holmes on January 28,1837. She was a native of Maine and had become a Latter Day Saint in 1834, Woodruff and Phoebe were married on April 13,1837, with the ceremony performed by Frederick G. Williams. Their marriage was sealed in Nauvoo by Hyrum Smith

32.
United States Congress
–
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C, both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, Congress has 535 voting members,435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members in addition to its 435 voting members and these members can, however, sit on congressional committees and introduce legislation. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a single constituency, known as a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by using the United States Census results. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, currently, there are 100 senators representing the 50 states. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a term, with terms staggered. The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process—legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers, however, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills, the House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before a person can be forcibly removed from office. The term Congress can also refer to a meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years, the current one, the 115th Congress, began on January 3,2017, the Congress starts and ends on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are referred to as senators, members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, congressmen, or congresswomen. One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played a role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure. Several academics described Congress, Congress reflects us in all our strengths, Congress is the governments most representative body. Congress is essentially charged with reconciling our many points of view on the public policy issues of the day. —Smith, Roberts, and Wielen Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux, most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent

33.
Escheat
–
Escheat /ᵻsˈtʃiːt/ is a common law doctrine that transfers the property of a person who died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in limbo without recognized ownership and it originally applied to a number of situations where a legal interest in land was destroyed by operation of law, so that the ownership of the land reverted to the immediately superior feudal lord. The term escheat derives ultimately from the Latin ex-cadere, to fall-out, the sense is of a feudal estate in land falling-out of the possession by a family into possession by the overlord. In feudal England, escheat referred to the situation where the tenant of a fee died without an heir or committed a felony, from the time of Henry III, the monarchy took particular interest in escheat as a source of revenue. At the Norman Conquest of England all the land of England was claimed as the possession of William the Conqueror under allodial title. The monarch thus became the owner of all the land in the kingdom. He then granted it out to his followers, who thereby became tenants-in-chief. Such tenures, even the highest one of feudal barony, never conferred ownership of land but merely ownership of rights over it, such persons are therefore correctly termed land-holders or tenants, not owners. If held freely, that is to say by freehold, such holdings were heritable by the legal heir. On the payment of a premium termed feudal relief to the treasury, logically therefore it was in the occupation of the crown alone, that is to say in the royal demesne. This was the operation of an escheat, a failure of heirs. Since disavowal of a bond was considered a felony, lords could escheat land from those who refused to be true to their feudal services. On the other hand, there were tenants who were sluggish in performing their duties, remedies in the courts against this sort of thing, even in Bractons day, were available, but were considered laborious and frequently ineffectual in compelling the desired performance. The commonest mechanism would be distraint, also called distress, the lord would seize some chattel and this practice had been dealt with in the 1267 Statute of Marlborough. Even so, it remained the most common method applied by the lords at the time of Quia Emptores. Thus, under English common law, there were two ways an escheat could happen, A persons property escheated if he was convicted of a felony. If the person was executed for the crime, his heirs were attainted, if a person had no heir to receive their property under a will or under the laws of intestacy, then any property he owned at death would escheat. This rule has been replaced in most common-law jurisdictions by bona vacantia or a similar concept, from the 12th century onward, the Crown appointed escheators to manage escheats and report to the Exchequer, with one escheator per county established by the middle of the 14th century

34.
Federal government of the United States
–
The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms

35.
Utah
–
Utah is a state in the western United States. It became the 45th state admitted to the U. S. on January 4,1896, Utah is the 13th-largest by area, 31st-most-populous, and 10th-least-densely populated of the 50 United States. Utah has a population of more than 3 million, approximately 80% of whom live along the Wasatch Front, Utah is bordered by Colorado to the east, Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast, approximately 62% of Utahns are reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS, which greatly influences Utahn culture and daily life. The LDS Churchs world headquarters is located in Salt Lake City, Utah is the only state with a majority population belonging to a single church. The state is a center of transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, in 2013, the U. S. Census Bureau estimated that Utah had the second fastest-growing population of any state. St. George was the metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah also has the 14th highest median income and the least income inequality of any U. S. state. A2012 Gallup national survey found Utah overall to be the best state to live in based on 13 forward-looking measurements including various economic, lifestyle, the name Utah is derived from the name of the Ute tribe. It means people of the mountains in the Ute language, according to other sources Utah is derived from the Apache name Yudah which means Tall. These Native American tribes are subgroups of the Ute-Aztec Native American ethnicity and were sedentary, the Ancestral Pueblo people built their homes through excavations in mountains, and the Fremont people built houses of straw before disappearing from the region around the 15th century. Another group of Native Americans, the Navajo, settled in the region around the 18th century, in the mid-18th century, other Uto-Aztecan tribes, including the Goshute, the Paiute, the Shoshone, and the Ute people, also settled in the region. These five groups were present when the first European explorers arrived, the southern Utah region was explored by the Spanish in 1540, led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, while looking for the legendary Cíbola. A group led by two Catholic priests—sometimes called the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the coast of California, the expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents. The Spanish made further explorations in the region, but were not interested in colonizing the area because of its desert nature, in 1821, the year Mexico achieved its independence from Spain, the region became known as part of its territory of Alta California. European trappers and fur traders explored some areas of Utah in the early 19th century from Canada, the city of Provo, Utah was named for one, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah was named after Peter Skene Ogden, in late 1824, Jim Bridger became the first known English-speaking person to sight the Great Salt Lake. Due to the salinity of its waters, Bridger thought he had found the Pacific Ocean

36.
U.S. state
–
A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance

37.
Standard works
–
The standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon. Under the LDS Churchs doctrine of continuing revelation, Latter-day Saints believe in the principle of revelation from God to his children, individual members are entitled to divine revelation for confirmation of truths, gaining knowledge or wisdom, meeting personal challenges, and so forth. Parents are entitled to revelation for raising their families, members are encouraged to ponder these revelations and pray to determine for themselves the truthfulness of doctrine. The Doctrine and Covenants teaches that all things must be done in order and this applies to adding new scripture. There are several instances of this happening in the LDS Church, April 6,1830, When the church was organized it is presumed that the Bible and Book of Mormon were unanimously accepted as scripture. June 9,1830, First conference of the Church, The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ, if the Bible and Book of Mormon were not sustained on April 6th then they were by default when the Articles and Covenants were sustained. August 17,1835, Select revelations from Joseph Smith were unanimously accepted as scripture and these were later printed in the Doctrine and Covenants. October 10,1880, The Pearl of Great Price was unanimously accepted as scripture, october 6,1890, Official Declaration 1 was accepted unanimously as scripture. It later began to be published in the Doctrine and Covenants, April 3,1976, Two visions were accepted as scripture and added to the Pearl of Great Price. September 30,1978, Official Declaration 2 was accepted unanimously as scripture and it immediately was added to the Doctrine and Covenants. When a doctrine undergoes this procedure, the LDS Church treats it as the word of God, and it is used as a standard to compare other doctrines. Lee taught, It is not to be thought that every word spoken by the General Authorities is inspired, or that they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost in everything they speak, now you keep that in mind. And if he says something that contradicts what is found in the works, you may know by that same token that it is false. In 2010 this was written into the churchs Handbook, which directs official church policy, a Spanish version, with a similar format and using a slightly revised version of the 1909 Reina-Valera translation, was published in 2009. Latter-day Saints in other non-English speaking areas may use other versions of the Bible, though the Bible is part of the LDS canon and members believe it to be the word of God, they believe that omissions and mistranslations are present in even the earliest known manuscripts. They claim that the errors in the Bible have led to incorrect interpretations of certain passages, thus, as church founder Joseph Smith explained, the church believes the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. The church teaches that he most reliable way to measure the accuracy of any biblical passage is not by comparing different texts, however, it is still printed in every version of the King James Bible published by the church. Although the Apocrypha was part of the 1611 edition of the KJV, Joseph Smith taught that while the contemporary edition of the Apocrypha was not to be relied on for doctrine, it was potentially useful when read with a spirit of discernment

38.
Mormonism
–
Mormonism is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity. Joseph Smith founded the movement in Western New York in the 1820s, during the 1830s and 1840s, it distinguished itself from traditional Protestantism. Mormonism represents the non-Protestant faith taught by Smith in the 1840s, other sects include Mormon fundamentalism, which seeks to maintain practices and doctrines such as polygamy, and various other small independent denominations. The word Mormon originally derived from the Book of Mormon, a text published by Smith. The book describes itself as a chronicle of early peoples of the Americas. Based on the name of book, early followers of Smith were more widely known as Mormons. The term was considered pejorative, but Mormons no longer consider it so. It also accepts the Pearl of Great Price as part of its canon, and has a history of teaching eternal marriage, eternal progression. Cultural Mormonism, a lifestyle promoted by Mormon institutions, includes cultural Mormons who identify with the culture, Mormonism originated in the 1820s in western New York during a period of religious excitement known as the Second Great Awakening. After praying about which denomination he should join, Joseph Smith, called the First Vision, Smith claimed God the Father instructed him to join none of the existing churches because they were all wrong. Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and other followers, began baptizing new converts in 1829. Formally organized in 1830 as the Church of Christ, Smith was seen by his followers as a modern-day prophet. Joseph Smith claimed The Book of Mormon was translated from writing on plates in a reformed Egyptian language, translated with the assistance of the Urim and Thummim. Both the special spectacles and the stone were at times referred to as the Urim and Thummim. He said an angel first showed him the location of the plates in 1823, buried in a nearby hill, Smith began dictating the text of The Book of Mormon around the fall of 1827 until the summer of 1828 when 116 pages were lost. Translation began again in April 1829 and finished in June 1829, saying that he translated it by the gift, after the translation was completed, Smith said the plates were returned to the angel. During Smiths supposed possession, very few people were allowed to witness the plates, the book described itself as a chronicle of an early Israelite diaspora, becoming the indigenous peoples of the Americas, written by a people called the Nephites. According to The Book of Mormon, Lehis family left Jerusalem at the urging of God c.600 BC, the Nephites are described as descendants of Nephi, the fourth son of the prophet Lehi

39.
Supreme Court of the United States
–
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court of the United States. In the legal system of the United States, the Supreme Court is the interpreter of federal constitutional law. The Court normally consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight justices who are nominated by the President. Once appointed, justices have life tenure unless they resign, retire, in modern discourse, the justices are often categorized as having conservative, moderate, or liberal philosophies of law and of judicial interpretation. Each justice has one vote, and while many cases are decided unanimously, the Court meets in the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, D. C. The Supreme Court is sometimes referred to as SCOTUS, in analogy to other acronyms such as POTUS. The ratification of the United States Constitution established the Supreme Court in 1789 and its powers are detailed in Article Three of the Constitution. The Supreme Court is the court specifically established by the Constitution. The Court first convened on February 2,1790, by which five of its six initial positions had been filled. According to historian Fergus Bordewich, in its first session, he Supreme Court convened for the first time at the Royal Exchange Building on Broad Street and they had no cases to consider. After a week of inactivity, they adjourned until September, the sixth member was not confirmed until May 12,1790. Because the full Court had only six members, every decision that it made by a majority was made by two-thirds. However, Congress has always allowed less than the Courts full membership to make decisions, under Chief Justices Jay, Rutledge, and Ellsworth, the Court heard few cases, its first decision was West v. Barnes, a case involving a procedural issue. The Courts power and prestige grew substantially during the Marshall Court, the Marshall Court also ended the practice of each justice issuing his opinion seriatim, a remnant of British tradition, and instead issuing a single majority opinion. Also during Marshalls tenure, although beyond the Courts control, the impeachment, the Taney Court made several important rulings, such as Sheldon v. Nevertheless, it is primarily remembered for its ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford, which helped precipitate the Civil War. In the Reconstruction era, the Chase, Waite, and Fuller Courts interpreted the new Civil War amendments to the Constitution, during World War II, the Court continued to favor government power, upholding the internment of Japanese citizens and the mandatory pledge of allegiance. Nevertheless, Gobitis was soon repudiated, and the Steel Seizure Case restricted the pro-government trend, the Warren Court dramatically expanded the force of Constitutional civil liberties. It held that segregation in public schools violates equal protection and that traditional legislative district boundaries violated the right to vote

40.
Idaho Territory
–
The territory was officially organized on March 3,1863, by Act of Congress, and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. The first territorial capital was at Lewiston from the inception in 1863 to 1866, Boise was made the territorial capital from 1866 by a one-vote margin of the Territorial Supreme Court. In 1864, the Montana Territory was organized from the section of the territory east of the Bitterroot Range. Most of the area of the territory was made part of the Dakota Territory. In the late 1860s Idaho Territory became a destination for displaced Southern Democrats who fought for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War and these people were well represented in the early territorial legislatures, which often clashed with the appointed Republican territorial governors. The political infighting became particularly vicious in 1867, when Governor David W. Ballard asked for protection from federal troops stationed at Fort Boise against the territorial legislature, by 1870, however, the political infighting had decreased considerably. In 1868, the areas east of the 111th meridian west were part of the newly created Wyoming Territory. Idaho Territory assumed the boundaries of the state at that time. As Idaho approached statehood, mining and other extractive industries became important to its economy. By the 1890s, for example, Idaho exported more lead than any other state, construction began on the Idaho Territorial Prison in 1870 and was completed by 1872. The prison was in use by the territory, then the state until 1973, the Old Idaho State Penitentiary was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 for its significance as a Territorial Prison. The site currently contains museums and an arboretum, almost immediately after Idaho Territory was created, a public school system was created and stage coach lines were established. Regular newspapers were active in Lewiston, Boise and Silver City by 1865, the first telegraph line reached Franklin in 1866, with Lewiston being the first town linked in northern Idaho in 1874. The first telephone call in the Pacific Northwest was made on May 10,1878, although forming a sizeable minority, Mormons in Idaho were held in suspicion by others in Idaho. By 1882 notable and powerful Idahoans successfully disenfranchised Mormon voters in Idaho Territory, Idaho was able to achieve statehood some six years before Utah, a territory which had a larger population and had been settled longer, but was majority LDS with voting polygamists. There were four thousand Chinese living in the Idaho Territory from 1869 to 1875, like many Chinese immigrants, they came to Gold Mountain to work as miners, or found work as laundrymen and cooks. The 1870 census reported there were 1,751 Chinese in Idaho City who were half of city residents. Annie Lee was one legendary Idaho city woman who like Polly Bemis and she escaped from a member of the Yeong Wo Company in the 1870s to Boise to marry her lover, another Chinese man

41.
Utah Territory
–
The creation of the territory was part of the Compromise of 1850 that sought to preserve the balance of power between slave and free states. The creation of the Utah Territory was partially the result of the petition sent by the Mormon pioneers who had settled in the valley of the Great Salt Lake starting in 1847. S. The Mormon settlers had drafted a constitution in 1849 and Deseret had become the de facto government in the Great Basin by the time of the creation of the Utah Territory. Following the organization of the territory, Young was inaugurated as its first governor on February 3,1851, in the first session of the territorial legislature in September, the legislature adopted all the laws and ordinances previously enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Deseret. In 1861, partly as a result of this, the Nevada Territory was created out of the part of the territory. Non-Mormons also entered the easternmost part of the territory during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, in 1861 a large portion of the eastern area of the territory was reorganized as part of the newly created Colorado Territory. Territories that encompassed land that would become part of the Territory of Utah, Mexican Cession,1848 State of Deseret

Map showing the westward exodus of the LDS church between 1846 and 1869. Also shown are a portion of the route followed by the Mormon Battalion and the path followed by the handcart companies to the Mormon Trail.

Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the property of a person who died without heirs to the crown or state. …

Jury finding from Kentucky County, Virginia County Court from an inquest of escheat. A twelve-man panel adjudged John Connolly and Alexander McKee to be British citizens within the meaning of the Virginia Assembly Act of 1779 concerning British subjects and their rights under Virginia law. (The Assembly had seized Connolly's claims prior to the inquest.) The jury found that the lands of Connolly and McKee were forfeited as they were British (and not American) citizens. Daniel Boone was listed as member of jury. (July 1780)